Jerry Jones Is Not What's Wrong with the Dallas Cowboys

For the fourth time this season, the Dallas Cowboys nation is panicking and the rest of the NFL is laughing.

Funny, because the one man in Dallas who isn't screaming and cursing like a drunken sailor after the Cowboys' 34-7 embarrassment on Sunday night just so happens to be the biggest man in the organization—owner/general manager/control freak Jerry Jones.

Funny again, because usually it's Jones who's the one busy doing the screaming and cursing after his team keels over in front of the cameras.

Said Jones of his team after it dropped to 3-4 on the season:

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"I want to be real clear here. There is absolutely no alarm in me. This can happen in the NFL… I'd be concerned if I thought we weren't going to go out here and win a lot more football games. We will."

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That doesn't quite sound like the whiskey talking, unless you think there really is reason for dire concern and that the time for drastic change is now.

In that case, Jones might as well be stumbling around Cowboys Stadium, blathering nonsense at a jumbotron mugshot of Tony Romo.

In high-definition, of course.

But let's pretend, for a moment at least, that Jones isn't crazy, that maybe (just maybe) there is hope for this team after getting pummeled in prime time.

First, let's rewind back to, say, the preseason and have a look at the Cowboys' schedule.

If you'd told me they would've lost to the Jets, Patriots, Lions and Eagles after their first seven games, I would've believed it.

Heck, three of those teams came into the 2011 season as Super Bowl contenders and everyone and their mother had Detroit pegged as an up-and-comer, pending the prolonged health of Matthew Stafford.

And remember, Dallas could very well have come into Sunday's game at 6-0 had it not been for some mistakes, not by Jones in his owner's suite or stalking the sidelines, but by his head coach (Jason Garrett) and his quarterback (Tony Romo), among others.

The Cowboys had big leads against the Jets and the Lions and came agonizingly close to toppling the Pats in Foxboro, Mass., so it's not like we're talking about a hopeless case of a team here.

Meanwhile, it turns out that those 49ers the Cowboys beat in Week 2 are pretty darn good, as in Dallas is the only team to have beaten San Francisco this season.

So how does one explain a blowout loss to a heretofore-disappointing Eagles team?

Simple.

Andy Reid has never lost a game after a bye week (13-0) and the Eagles are still a terrifically talented team, just one that hadn't figured itself out after introducing so many new faces during a truncated offseason.

That's no excuse for the ineptitude from Big D, but at least it helps to put things in perspective.

So where does Jerry Jones fit into all this again?

Oh right, he brought in Jason Garrett to be the head coach. But can you really blame the guy for removing the "interim" tag from Garrett's title after he took over a 1-7 team without Tony Romo and somehow squeezed five wins out of them in the second half of the 2010 season?

Especially when Garrett had such close existing ties to the organization and had gotten ringing endorsements from prominent voices, including former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson.

Okay, so what about Rob Ryan, the defensive coordinator?

His defense stunk it up to the high heavens last night, surrendering nearly 500 yards of offense. Shouldn't Jones get catch some flack for that hire?

Wrong again!

The Cowboys came into Sunday night's game with the stingiest run defense in the NFL and still rank ninth in total defense after finishing the 2010 season at 23rd in that very same category.

And of all the problems that have plagued Philly this season, offense hasn't really been one of them. Yes, the Eagles' pass protection has stunk (and it still did against Big D), but we're still talking about a team that's ninth in scoring.

The Eagles are also first in total offense and are loaded with explosive weapons, from Michael Vick and LeSean McCoy on down to DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin and Steve Smith.

And Romo? He's an easy target since he's the face of the franchise and has seemingly been at the center of every blunder that has befallen the Cowboys this season.

Realistically, though, what was Jones going to do? Cut him? Trade him? Tell Garrett to bench him?

Was he going to hand the keys over to Jon Kitna? Because we all know how well that would've worked out.

If anything, Romo deserved another chance to lead this team after breaking his collarbone early in the season last year and, truth be told, is still having a pretty good season.

The season figures to get better for him and the rest of the Cowboys if we take another look back at the schedule.

Of their next five games—home against Seattle and Buffalo, at Washington, home against Miami and at Arizona—the Cowboys should win four and could ostensibly win all five.

That scenario would put them at 7-5 or 8-4 heading into the home stretch, when they play the Buccaneers, Eagles and the Giants twice.

In the unpredictable NFC East, that could easily be good enough to put Dallas in contention for the division crown with four games to go, with two against the team that currently sits in first place.

So please, Cowboys fans, do yourselves (and everyone else who likes football) a favor: Take a deep breath, relax, remember that a lot can and does happen over the course of half a season and refrain from doing harm to yourself or anyone else in the meantime.

Otherwise, you might just miss your beloved team, once "America's Team," winning games and marching into the playoffs.

Just like Jones said, because, really, if a megalomaniac as deeply involved with the team as he is isn't alarmed, why should you be?